Greece says migrant numbers down since asylum pause
An unprecedented surge in arrivals from Libya to the Mediterranean island of Crete this summer caught Greece off guard as the historically more common migration route crosses the Aegean Sea bordering Turkey.
More than 7,000 migrants have landed on Crete and its tiny neighbour Gavdos since the start of the year, compared with 4,935 in 2024.
The arrivals sparked local anger, including from the key tourism sector, heaping pressure on the conservative government of Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, prompting the asylum suspension.
Migration Minister Thanos Plevris -- a former member of the far-right party Laos who has called the migrant influx an "invasion" -- told public broadcaster ERT that Crete had received 2,642 migrants in the first week of July.
Arrivals had fallen to "below 900" since July 9, when the government announced the suspension of asylum hearings, he said.
"The clear message that the country will no longer give asylum for the next three months, and that immigrants will be detained, appears to have had an effect," Plevris added.
Humanitarian and migrant groups rebuked Greece for breaking international law after the asylum freeze announcement, while the UN refugee agency expressed "serious concern".
Mitsotakis, whose family hails from Crete, has implemented stricter immigration policies since taking office in 2019.
His government followed the asylum suspension with proposed legislation that would detain migrants for up to two years for illegal entry -- and up to five years if subsequently caught staying in Greece illegally.
Plevris said he hoped the measures would become law "by early September".
Greece's proximity to North Africa and the Middle East has long placed the country at the heart of perilous migration routes to Europe for people escaping conflict, persecution and poverty.
Rights groups have accused Greek authorities of illegal pushbacks of migrants at the border, which the government denies.
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